Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em

This is a discussion on Bad Drivers - How do you spot 'em within Street Experiences, part of the Buckle Up category; Originally Posted by ecenandu
Who is at fault here?
Indica in the blind spot?
If we go by the rules, ...

Quite clear that the Swift guy wasn't paying attention or the horn in the Indica wasn't working.

This is India and no one yields to traffic on the highway. We always have this "me first" attitude.

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I hate when people say that once you learn to drive in India, you can drive any where in the world.

Nope you simply can't. Sitting in the passenger seat of my uncle's Prius, I was quite nervous when he merged onto a freeway in LA when a truck next to us was doing 55-60 mph and we were accelerating on the on-ramp.

Indians can't just drive abroad as they are not used to see other traffic drive fast. One small mistake can start a chain reaction and a lot can go wrong.

Was driving through a road next to my house which is only wide enough for 2 cars. As I turn into that road two cars are parked to my left without a care for other motorists. I look ahead and a Ritz cabbie is just turning into the road in the other direction.

I had ample space so flashed him twice and proceed on the right. Just as I reach the nose of the second car, he zooms up and stops his car right in front of me, blocking me. I get a little frustrated because of his hurry, point at him and gesture 'what's your hurry?'. Did not want to spoil my mood so I reverse back the two cars length and give him way. This all happened in 10 seconds, as soon as he pulled up in front of me I had started reversing.

The gall this guy had, pulls up very close to my car and lowers his window halfway. I lower mine:

HIM:Ena? (What?)

ME:Light adichadhu theriliya? Oru second nidithirkilam la! (Did you not see me flashing my lights? You could have stopped there for a second.)

HIM: Car otarache tension aagadhinga( Don't get tensed while driving)

ME: *now frustrated at this moron*Tension kudukiradhe unngala madhiri avasaralathu la ota theriyama otturavan dhan! (It is people like you in a hurry that don't have a clue of driving that gives tension!)

HIM: Light flash Panna enna vandi nu pathu flash pannanum! Na nidithanum nu avasiyam illa! ( While flashing your light you should see the size of the vehicle you are flashing at! It is not necessary for me to stop !)

*People honking at him from behind*

ME: *Trying to keep my cool* Yov! Road size therila, nee varathuku munnadiye rendu vandiyum a cross panniten la! Modhala ota kathuko aproma vandi size lan paakalam. Modhala vandi ya edu !( Bugger! You don't understand the size of this road the space between us at first, you drive up all the way even after I have signalled you since there was space! First learn to drive then you can talk about vehicle size. Now move your vehicle! )

According to this cabbie I didn't have the right to flash my light and ask him to give me space because I was a driving a smaller car than his!

I was driving my Aunt's Maruti Alto and it has a 'L' sticker. Even when I am driving my Innova and irrespective of the vehicle coming the other way, I am the one that always gives them way.

All this even after I am courteous towards other motorists on the road? The government should seriously rethink before giving these guys a driving licence.

I bet many of you would have come across such egoistic fellows on the road!

Yes it does provided you are on High Beam with your Hazards on.This is because if someone misses those amber flashing Hazards camouflaged behind those bright headlights, they can at least notice your Headlights.

That is the new self made rule which will make its entry in the rule books soon once a bill gets passed in the next parliament session to make the ammendment.

And this practice has become so common these days that the Human Rights Groups have also requested to have this rule included while entering and exiting lifts at Malls and Workplaces where you can hold an LED Torchlight and flash it every time you want to get inside even before those who want to get out.

In the end, the responsibility lies with the driver entering from the wrong side to first roll down and say " Look, I have got my Headlights ON" to prevent altercation with fellow motorists

Do flashing lights give you right of way? Having to get on the wrong lane to cross the two parked cars on your lane, you should have given him way i reckon.

But his logic of big car, small car But then easier for a smaller vehicle to stop, maneuver etc. Bah, so much confusion.

But he did have a point when he said not to get tensed while driving

And get a dashcam, easier to judge things while posting rants here.

Right of way if you flash your lights? Absolutely not! But I do know to judge distances. Being a person that always gives way so as to save me my time and energy, I did notice that he was still 6-7 car lengths away when I had crossed the first parked car and that there was ample space for me to cross the second car(parked right ahead of the first one) without causing him to even slow down. Just as I was about to pull over to the left did he block me.

My "Flashing" was more of a 'sorry buddy but two idiots parked in my way' and not ' You have to wait for me'. Also as soon as he did block me I did reverse back to make way.

It is easy to question until you come across a situation like this.

I am always cool-headed while driving. Also I did get frustrated by his attitude towards driving when he blocked me again to have a word!

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Originally Posted by mayankk

Unnecessary, that was.
He did say its a colony/society lane. By your coin, the thin guy flashing an LED at the mall has to give way to big-show, yeah.

But a Ritz cabbie using the "bigger" car credo I think we're soon going to have segment wars! "Mine is not a sub 4 meter CUV, you Ecosport!! Turn off your lights, and get out of my way!"

You can easily note the attitude of such drivers if you regularly drive cars of different sizes. I have noticed that I have to bear more being cutoff and made to give way(for no reason) while I drive the Alto compared to my Innova.

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Originally Posted by prithm

This is what I keep telling myself when I get into a situation like this.

"Give way to fool's. He might not know the value of money and life. But I do.".

We are doing a favor to the morons by following the rules and law of this nation. We earned every single rupee by toiling at our jobs. Nothing was handed over to us over a silver platter.

Just think of something that will make you happy when in such situations. Absolutely no verbal duel. Just look at them and smile. That's enough of a message to show him who is bigger and stronger.

Will do! I do always give way to such fools, but this was different he saw I had ample space to make way for him even before he reached the spot, but he chose to accelerate and block me.

That is the sad truth we are doing a favour with the same reciprocating from the other motorists. The countless number of time I have been honked at for stopping at a signal after it turned amber without mashing my throttle and going ahead!

I should have controlled my urge to point a finger at him while I was reversing, that was my mistake. He further fuelled the situation by pulling close to my window, blocking me and wanting to have a word.

Right of way if you flash your lights? Absolutely not! But I do know to judge distances. Being a person that always gives way so as to save me my time and energy, I did notice that he was still 6-7 car lengths away when I had crossed the first parked car and that there was ample space for me to cross the second car(parked right ahead of the first one) without causing him to even slow down. Just as I was about to pull over to the left did he block me.

My "Flashing" was more of a 'sorry buddy but two idiots parked in my way' and not ' You have to wait for me'. Also as soon as he did block me I did reverse back to make way.

It is easy to question until you come across a situation like this.

Of course it is easier to question stuff posted on the net Which is why i suggested getting a dashcam so that idiots like me can understand the situation better

If we go by the rules, the pickup guy is at fault. There is no need for the Swift to yield. Am I correct?

The Swift (for the hit) and the goods carrier (for lane obstruction) . Lane departure is not permitted unless there is space to do so. The Swift did have enough space to brake and slow down, but chose to swerve instead.

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Originally Posted by Shanksta

...flashed him twice...

Seriously? You flashed him twice, instead of flashing your high beams?

Maybe the Ritz driver has learnt driving in a First World country, where flashing the headlamps (though unofficially) means "You can pass, I'm waiting for you". Only in India does the same action mean "To hell with you, here I come!"

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Originally Posted by AnniHilat0R

Browsing through some of the videos this guy has posted on his channel, he himself seems like quite a case.
...his video just shows how reckless and dense some people are:...

And how I wish the traffic police take videos like this as evidence and penalize & suspend/cancel the driving licences of all concerned parties, for rash driving, street racing and endangerment of human lives.

I bet many of you would have come across such egoistic fellows on the road!

Almost everyday! When it gets too frequent I almost wish my next vehicle should be a JCB backhoe loader so I can just scoop them up and dump them off the road! Taking a deep breath solves the problem 😁

There are people who remove the mirrors altogether because it's 'in' and 'cool'!

I still remember 10 years ago (2007) when we were in our first year at college, one of my friends removed the mirrors on his Bajaj Pulsar claiming that the bike looked like a Donkey from the front with the mirrors on... He kept blabbering that the mirrors look like Donkey's Ears. Kept me wondering for quite some time and I even downloaded a few donkey pictures to make comparison side-by-side

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ignorance is not bliss once you're in the hospital!
I hope people learn!

I agree with this statement completely! But again, will people learn? Given the current scenario where the situation just keeps getting worse, I doubt if they ever will get a chance to make an effort to learn. There are more examples of people getting away with it rather than getting penalized. Obviously, most people would like to fall in the majority category.

I still remember 10 years ago (2007) when we were in our first year at college, one of my friends removed the mirrors on his Bajaj Pulsar claiming that the bike looked like a Donkey from the front with the mirrors on... He kept blabbering that the mirrors look like Donkey's Ears. Kept me wondering for quite some time and I even downloaded a few donkey pictures to make comparison side-by-side

I myself fall under this category. I had the first gen pulsar and used to feel that the mirrors are not upping my style quotient. So I removed it and the very first ride after that I almost hit a bike next to me as I did not see it. I took a U turn went back home installed the mirrors and went back to college. So me trying to up my style quotient lasted all of 30 mins but it significantly upped my safety quotient.

My favorite and the most common infraction is carrying helmet on a bike. These are the sensible chaps who do not want to get caught by police but will not let mere safety rules come in way of their undeterred pleasure of a two wheel ride and feel the wind in their hair.